VI:Cold War Relics
by MarkusGer
Summary: The Hammersley is in charge to defend the oil and gas platforms and whole australia agaist an enemy who uses cold war relics to get what he want.
1. Chapter 1

Ch.1:Failed interception

"I have it, Sir." Charge said from the EOD. "Good. Prepare for a warning shot. XO, lead the boarding team, taker Buffer, Jasper and Spider. Remember, they are in the protected zone- we are allowed to use everything to stop them" the CO ordered.

The boarding team met at the armory to equip, and Spider shared his thoughts:"Maybe it's a ghost ship". "According to that we saw on the EOD it's the flying dutchmen. A rusty bucket, propably only hold together by duct tape and good wishes" Jasper joked, and Buff asked:"So now you are the expert for ships? ": "You gamble with your life, comrade. Better think about it twice, before I replace your firing pin with a toothpick". "Enough. We should go."Kate interrupted them, and led the team to the boat deck. After a last weapons check they climbed into a RHIB and left the ship.

The suspected ship, a bigger white motoryacht, drived with 12 knots into the protection zone around the australian gas and oil production platforms.  
The boat droved a bow and tried to come closer to the yacht from behind.  
They spotted no one until they was only 50 meters away. Then, from one second to the other, hell opened doors to the sailors.  
they heard the sound of starting RPGs, the "Splash" as they landed in the water and all this underlayed with the characteristic "Ratatat" of AK47, which no one who heard it will ever forget. For a moment Jaspers mind traveled back into northern afganistan, were his unit once walked directly into an ambush. He waked up from Buffer, who yelled towards the the driver:"Bring us out of here!". The RHIB turned hard, and the 4 tried to response the fire with their personal weapons. The SAS man raised his rifle, spotted a movement on the yacht, he pointed the crosshair of his scope on the target and squeezed the trigger 2 times. He felt the recoil of his weapon and saw the enemy's body fall into the water, directly behind him Spider felt a hit, struggled and fallen ofer the RHIB's air chamber into the seas. The yacht speeded up, turned and left the area. XO raised her hands to signal the boat's driver to stop the engine. The boat changed the course slowly to pull Spider back in.  
The yacht was out of range and still drived with full power, so they decided to  
take the dead enemy in too and return on the ship. Spider was not injuried, but the enemy was dead. He weared a black combat dress, and a tactical vest.

On the bridge the CO has to make strategic and tactical decisions. "Sir, do we follow them?"Nav asked, and Mike's head fast worked through the list of options. "No. We are here to protect the platforms and directly behind the end of the protection zone the Australian naval space is over. We will not reach them ,and to pick up our crew members is more important. I am sure that the enemy will make a second try."

After the sailors on the RHIB reached the ship they went to the armory. "Fuck. They are all in all 3 bullets in my body armor" Spider said shocked as he checked his vest. Jasper answered:"See the good side. Better three bullets in the vest than an RPG in the boat"."Funny. but even without an direct RPG hit the boat is heavy damaged. It is nearly a wonder that they made it out there alive. We should go to the debriefing"Buffer said.

Minutes later at the briefing room Buffer said:"We droved directly into an ambush". "We all knowed that this could happen since this Korean smuggler telled us. But it seems like he maintained silence about the fact that his customer buyed next to the explosives other heavy weapons too. Maybe his last poor try to revenge, now we have to deal with this situation"the CO said. As he saw a red-edged cut at Buffers uniform he asked:"Buffer!You are injuried?"."Only a scratch,Sir"the sailor answered. "Sure. Let Swain and Bomber take care of this".

"I don't know why, but you are like a magnet for bullets. And you are a lucky, it's only a graze shot wound."Bomber said while she treaded his wound with a bandage. But even through he was smiling it was easy to hear that she was worried about her. "Yeah he was a lucky one-because I renounced to remove the firing pin from his rifle"Jasper joked as he plugged his head through the door."Get out of here before you become the next patient!"Bomber joked back and throwed a empty water bottle against the SAS trooper who pulled his head out of the door and closed it. "So, it seems liken in the last time you are the one who need a guardian angel"she said and finished the wound treatment. Buffer embraced her and answered:"I have an angel-that's more than the most people ever get".

Jasper went to the garbage room, were the body bag with the dead enemy was storaged. He opened the zip of the bag, grabbed on his right hip and pulled out the combat knife he always weared there. The blade was so sharp that it was usable as a razor, so it easily cutted through the textile material of the enemy's uniform. But he got disturbed by the CO's yell:"What to hell you are doing there, Sergeant?!". "Only checking a theory, Sir."- "Okay. Show me"the CO said calmer. Sergeant Nicols cutted the uniform sleeves of the enemy comleteley open, so they saw the skin. "Bingo,Sir. That was what I expected." On the arm of the enemy was a tattoo, a black bat. "So. A unit logo or what?"Mike asked. "Exactly. Soviet or russian special forces. Many of them work as paramilitaries and mercenaries now.". Mike was completely calmed now:"Okay. That's good input. But please next time ask me before you act. I will inform NAVCOM now."

LTC Mike Flynn walked to his office, closed the door and grabbed satphone.  
"Commander, Mike Flynn here."  
"Good to hear from you" What happened?"CMDR Marshal asked.  
"A motoryacht violated the protection zone, fired upon us and escaped. We killed one, and identified them as an former member of an eastern europe speznaz unit. We need orders". After a few seconds Commander Marshal answered:"Okay Mike. We send you a helicopter to transport the body on the main land. I will inform you when the authopsy is made or we got any other intel."

2 hours later a seahawk helicopter flown in, balanced out over the Hammersley's stern deck and lowered a loop- Swain and Buffer mounted he body bag into it, and the grey MH60 helicopter left. "A rare view" Mike on the bridge. "A clear sign that NAVCOM takes it serious."XO said. "I am not sure if this is a good thing"Lieutenant Commander Flynn answered.

The ship returned to the patrol course and the night laid darkness over the seas. Noone abour hat even a small thaught of the huge hazard towards the security of the ship, the platforms and even australia's national security.


	2. Ch2:Threads

Mike Flynn was shocked for a second. His mind decided not to believe in what it heared a second ago, so he decided to ask his superior officer:"What-Sir? Radioactive?"."Yes,Mike."Commander Marshal said via the satphone;"It was pure coincidence that we spotted it. At the hospital the body bag was laid for a fee minutes next to the radiology, and a x-ray technician stood nearby, and his dosemeter gave alert."  
"Okay. So is it possible that he became contaminated random?"the CO asked, afraid of the answer. "No. His contamination was so high that the only possible answer is that he was close to the direct source of the radiation. Propably uran. This would give the context a very dangerous taste".  
"Which context, Sir?  
"Today a letter arrived at the parliament building in Canberra-and the content was-shocking. Someome theats to launch serveral terrorist strikes at the oil and cas production platforms in the protection zone if the gouvernment not stops the production there within 72 hours and give an offial statement that we stop the whole production there completely for all time"CMDR Marshal said. "Fine. So we have a insane environment activist with something radioactive out there."  
"Yes. Your orders are clear:Stay where you are, guard the protection zone. This time we can grate you support:UAV reconnaissance, and we can even give you Close-Air-Support by F18 fighters. I think it is not neccessary to tell you the worst case. Good luck". The connection ended.  
The CO walked to the door of his cabin, opened it and went to the bridge to call the ship's leading personnel to the briefing room.

15 minutes later CO, Executive Officer, Navigation officer,Bosun mate, the ship's engineer, medic and the weapons specialist met at the briefing room. Mike Flynn explained the situation, as he was finished a few seconds of absoulute silence laid in the room. Then Nav asked:"So when he was contaminated-the theat is nuclear. That would mean a nuke bomb, or not?".The CO looked towards the weapons specialist, Jasper Nicols, and SAS trooper in a Navy Uniform.  
"I am no for normal nuclear fission weapons don't cause a huge radioactive contamination. It is way more plausible that they have a dirty bomb."Jasper said, but he realized that most persons on the table not understood what he said, so he explained: "A nuclear dirty bomb is not powered by nuclear fission like the weapons used at Hiroshima or Nagasaki. It is a powered by regular explosives. Around the explosive component is a load of radioactive material, like from x-ray machines or nuclear power plant waste. It explodes, and contaminates the surrounding area. In simple terms:With one blast it transforms a living city into Chernobyl."  
Now everyone understands. "Here are a more positive fact:The reconnaissance spotted the enemy's yacht. It lays without speed a little bit out of the protection zone. we are not the only unit to guard the platforms, so we can risk to leave our position to check it out. We send a recon team aboard and check ot out. For now that's all. It is late evening now, we will intercept the enemy in the early morning"  
Mike said, stood up and left. The others followed him and spread over the ship.  
Two of them, Nav and Jesper, left in different directions, but with the same target:A storage room deep in the Hammersley's hull.

A few minutes later both arrived there, Jasper embraced her, and she kissed him.  
"How long do you think the rest of the crew will need until they notice our love?"he asked, and she smiled"Oh man. We are aboard a navy patrol boat. Here is no way to keep anything secret for more than 5 seconds".  
"So you think the others know it?"  
"I am sure that Buffer and Bomber knows it, but like you know too they have their own relationship, so they are no risk factor I guess"Nikki said, still smiling. And her partner answered:"I am not afraid about the others. I am only afraid of the fact that we could become seperated when the wrong person notices it. And I love you way too much for being able to endure to be seperated from you".  
Nikki was touched. From the second the SAS trooper came aboard she felt that there is something between them, and it fast became clear that both fall in love with each other. The result was a relationship, clearly against the navy rules, but Nav and Jasper are happy like never before. Now she pressed him against the wall behind him and started to open his uniform. She knowed exactly what she wants, and she wanted it now.

As the sun came out in the early morning the ship was in range of the enemy motoryacht, and at the armory the boarding team members prepared thereselves. The equipment was a little bit other than usual. Instead of navy boarding helmets they now using army combat helmets, because they want to wear NCBR(Nuclear-Chemical-Biological-Radioactive)-Masks with filters. The other changes was that they decided to wear gloves and to duct tape them on the uniform sleeves to protect against contamination by touching and that every member of the boarding party should wear a dosemeter. The team was small, only 3 sailors, XO, Buffer and Jasper. They walked out on deck as they finished with equipping,outside they locked and loaded their weapons and climbed into a RHIB. The crane sat the boat on the surface, and the enginde speeded it up and carried the 3 fast towards the yacht. "This time it really looks like a ghost ship"  
Buffer thaugts to himself.

They reached the yacht and went aboard over the stern deck. They sweeped the deck and spotted noone, so the XO wents under deck, followed by Jasper and Buffer.  
Directly behind the door they got attacked. A enemy,hided behind a wooden case, 2 meters long, 50 centimeters high and broad, fired upon them with a pistol. Lucky for the boarding team he was a very poor shooter. Buffer raised his rifle and squeezed the trigger, and a 5.56mm bullet sended the enemy into the next world.  
They went deeper into the yacht, but the only other thing they found was an other dead body. He had a gun shot wound, but it seemed like that they was older. "I guess he got hit at the firefight as we wanted to board them the first time and died later cause of the blood lost."SGT Nicols said. They checked the rest of the ship, but the only other thing they found out was that the fuel tanks were empty."So-the last thing we have to check is this one"XO said and pointed towards the wooden case. Jasper pulled out his combat knife and offered it Buffer:"If you would, please?"  
"With peasure".Buffer taked the offered knife and opened the case's top. "What is that?"Kate asked as she looked into the case.  
"A problem."Jasper answered."A cold war problem".  
"Okay. We should pack the deads on body bags and return to the ship"XO ordered.

"Please explain that, Sergeant"Mike said at the briefing room."What we found was the empty middle section hull of a WE117, that is a british tactical nuke, carried by a plane. They were rumuors that a british bomber lost one in australian sea space once in the eighties, but the gouvernment kept it secret. Only rumours for sure-but I think we have a clear evidence for it here"Jasper explicated.  
"But-it is not possible that they lost a goddamn nuke and then continue like nothing happens?" Nav asked.  
"Sadly it is."SGT Nicols answered."The United States alone are officially missing 11 nuclear weapons. In the cold war bombers often loose bombs during emergency landings on the ocean. All in all they think that 50 nukes were lost during the cold war. And I am not even want to guess the dark number. Captain, I have a theory who our enemy is.".  
"Okay Sergeant. Feel free to share your theory with us".  
"Sir, I checked the 2 deads from the yacht before I came to the briefing. The same tatoos like the first one. My theory is that our enemy is an former russian or soviet intelligence member. He has connections to former eastern block commando soldiers and he knowed were he should search the bomb. I am sure that the russians knowed exactly where the brits lost this nuclear firecracker"Jasper said.  
"Fine. I will report it to NAVCOM"Mike Flynn answered and gaved orders:"XO, Charge should sink the yacht with the typhoon. Then set course back to the protection zone. I guess we will be needed there soon!" 


End file.
